Komodo Park: A future Jurassic tragedy

Komodo Park: A future Jurassic tragedy

Henning Borchers, Jakarta

Komodo National Park is a great place to see the famous Komodo
dragon but conflict in the area between locals and conservators
is risking the status of this World Heritage Site. Henning
Borchers, a development anthropologist, writes how a new plan
involving the locals is badly needed to avoid future conflict and
guarantee sustainable management of the park.

Komodo National Park is internationally famous for being the
only place in the world where one can encounter the Komodo
monitor in the wild. Its marine environment is also destined to
become yet another first-class dive destination, alongside
Sulawesi's Bunaken National Park.

The sea surrounding the park's several islands offers some of
the best dive spots in the country; it provides the diver with a
glimpse of more than 250 species of reef-building corals, some
1,000 species of fish, manta rays, sea turtles and numerous
marine mammals such as dolphins and whales.

The terrestrial part of the park has more to offer than just
dragons -- it is a naturalist's "Jurassic Park" for sure; another
world that seems to offer little to human habitation. But
appearances can be deceptive. There are humans here too:
traditional residents as well as migrants who have come to the
park to try and eke out a living from the area's bountiful
natural resources. But for them, living in the park is fast
becoming a non-sustainable option.

There are roughly 3,300 people living within park boundaries,
spread over four settlements. Their main source of livelihood is
the sea surrounding their islands. This has become a highly
contested issue, and the situation in and around Komodo National
Park can now be considered a worst-case scenario, where an
international conservation agenda clashes with the livelihood
needs and political rights of the local population.

Since 1995, the National Park Authority has received
substantial support from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an
American NGO. While the work of TNC, the world's richest
environmental organization, has garnered praise from some
quarters, its reputation has also been questioned due to its
corporate links -- indeed, General Motors, Exxon Mobil, and
Monsanto are unlikely partners for an organization that claims to
be "saving the last great places".

Conflict between park authorities and local fishing
communities in and surrounding the park was already prevalent
prior to TNC's engagement. However, since TNC's involvement, this
conflict has been aggravated.

TNC has largely restricted resource use without providing
alternative livelihood strategies fishermen so badly need to
sustain a living without being shot dead as last happened in
2002.

The incident, in which two fishermen were allegedly shot and
killed by a park patrol when they were trying to catch lobster,
caused violent protests, which saw a local national park branch
torched down, and led to an investigation by Komnas HAM, the
National Human Rights Commission. But it did not initiate a
critical review of the project that had provided the
circumstances for this incident to happen in the first place.

Instead, TNC hails their Komodo project as an all-out success,
and they were thus able to secure continued project funding, most
recently a US$5 million grant from the International Finance
Corporation, although their success rate after a 10-year
commitment is largely limited to improvements in coral reef
cover. This is certainly a worthwhile achievement and one,
moreover, which attracts the tourists TNC so badly needs to make
the park self-financing through tourism revenue.

The Ministry of Forestry in July 2004 granted a tourism
concession to a joint venture between TNC and a tourism company
owned by Malaysian business magnate Feisol Hashim to manage the
park for 25 years. The JV, P.T. Putri Naga Komodo, is set to take
over this month, but local stakeholders, including local
legislative council, have yet to be informed about its decision-
making structure, which puts into question political rights
granted to them through Indonesia's decentralization process.

Feisol seems to be the perfect partner to invigorate the
tourism industry by developing high-end marine tourism. He holds
prominent positions in Indonesia's tourism industry and has
bought around 200ha of coastal land surrounding the park over the
past 10 years. According to TNC's Russell Leiman, Feisol's
engagement is on a purely philanthropic basis, but with the JV to
go ahead, one can expect large-scale infrastructure development
and a considerable future profit for Feisol.

What is not clear, however, is how local communities, who
still rely on the area to survive, will benefit from the project.

According to TNC, fishermen from further a-field exercise most
pressure on resources, but population pressure within the park
also needs to be addressed. TNC thus promotes incentives for park
residents to resettle outside the park, by denying particularly
poor locals a livelihood through restrictions on resource use. In
Komodo National Park, the old-school conservation paradigm of
"parks without people" receives a new polish.

The reality for park residents in Komodo is as bleak as the
dragon is fierce. There have been few attempts by TNC to involve
local communities in conservation efforts. Fishermen are
considered a threat to resources rather than an asset to
conservation and park management. Ultimately, TNC is spending a
considerable amount of money on "holding the fort".

There is a need for transparent and independent review,
monitoring and mediation procedures to ensure sustainable
management of the park. Local stakeholders have to be involved in
decisions pertaining to park management, conservation and
economic development, ascertaining their right to prior, free and
informed consent. They have the right and capacity to make their
own decisions about their livelihoods.

If TNCs top-down approach is allowed to continue, conflict
will prevail and tourists visiting the park would better stay
under water, where the fish won't bother them. For the
communities within and surrounding the park, the last word has
not yet been spoken.

The writer is a New Zealand-based development anthropologist
and independent researcher who published several papers on Komodo
National Park.